OCEAN CITY – With the process and official rules outlined this week, the Ocean City Song of the Summer Contest will be gearing up soon.
The contest details were released this week and received permission from the Mayor and City Council to move ahead.
According to the official rules, participants are to write and record an original song that shares their passion for Ocean City. The song will become the official song of the 2012 summer in Ocean City.
Once the contest is set up, song submissions can be done on the “Song of Summer” tab on Ocean City’s Facebook page or on the town’s website, OCocean.com. Entries can also be mailed.
Participants need to submit the complete original composition, music and lyrics. The song is to be no longer than three minutes in length. Contest guidelines clearly state no specific Ocean City business can be mentioned.
The songs will be pre-screened to ensure compliance with all contest rules before they will be posted to the contest site.
The contest will have two rounds of judging. The first jury will be comprised of representatives from the town and its advertising agency, MGH. Three finalists will be chosen and be announced on the contest site.
In the second round, a vote will be conducted by the public using Ocean City’s Facebook page. The public will select one grand prize winner by whoever receives the most “likes”.
The grand prize includes a recording session at the Park Recording Studio in Ocean City for up to eight hours. The song will be produced by local singer/songwriter Bryan Russo.
The grand prize also includes a one-night stay in town while the song is being recorded, dinner for two, the opportunity to perform the song at Sunfest and other major Ocean City events and featured as an Ocean City sponsored free download at the iTunes store, as well as be featured in press releases and media outreach surrounding the Song of Summer.
Councilman Joe Hall made a motion to move forward with the Facebook version of the contest and the council voted unanimously to approve.
“I think it creates a buzz and if successful I think it will turn out to be an annual thing,” he said.
The idea of an official song for Ocean City was introduced in February by Joe Hall, who was inspired by a song entitled “It’s a Shore Thing,” written and performed by local musician and songwriter Tim Landers. His song extols nearly all of the virtues of the resort in a catchy three-minute ditty.
“I think it would be a neat thing for the town to create a contest and allow the musical talent we have here to create an official Ocean City song,” Joe Hall said.